This invention relates to the field of dishwasher apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus in combination with a dining table or counter surface.
Most contemporary homes have an automatic dishwasher that is installed beneath a counter surface in the home""s kitchen in place of a storage cabinet. With such a dishwasher arrangement, dishes must be removed from the eating table and carried to the dishwasher to be washed. Frequently, similar types of dishes, e.g. dinner plate, salad bowl, etc., are used for many meals. After the dishes are washed, and before a subsequent meal is eaten, the dishes must be moved again to the table. In this arrangement, not only does the dishwasher occupy kitchen space that could otherwise be used for storage but also one must move the dishes back and forth between the counter and the table.
In some homes, a dishwasher is portable, that is, not installed at all, but moveable around the kitchen floor. A portable dishwasher solves the storage space drawback of the built-in dishwasher noted above. but it occupies extra floor space. If the portable dishwasher is located near the kitchen sink, it again requires transporting the dishes to and from the table for washing. If the portable dishwasher is located near the table, then a power cord, a water line, and a waste line need to traverse from a wall source across the kitchen floor.
It is also known to position a dishwasher beneath the dining surface of a table in the kitchen, thus overcoming all the obstacles of the conventional built-in as well as portable dishwashers as discussed above. The typical dining table covers an open area of unused space. The dining table is, by definition, the venue for eating. Placing a dishwasher device under a dining table avoids the need to transport the dishes to and from the table, allows more space beneath the kitchen counter for storage, and does not require electric and water lines to traverse the kitchen floor, since they can be routed directly from below the table.
In addition to the benefits of a dishwasher that is built into a dining table noted above, such an arrangement would be of particular benefit to physically handicapped or elderly persons who would be likely to have more than average difficulty with moving the dishes between the table and the dishwasher.
Such a washing apparatus built into a dining table is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,952,568 to Schapp et al. for a Convertible Dishwashing Dinner Table. The Schapp et al. disclosure includes a series of eating trays that mount into the surface of the table. The trays may be formed with cavities to receive food. The user attaches utensils and dishes to clips on the trays and inverts the tray so that its eating surface faces down for being washed. The non-eating surface does not get washed.
A further washing apparatus in a dining table is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,426 to Townsend for a Table Having Reversible Tray Mounted Therein. The Townsend table incorporates trays into its top surface. The trays are moveable from an eating position to a washing position by rotating around a mounting shaft. Only the eating surface is subject to being washed.
An additional combination dining table and dishwashing apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,519 to Willson, titled Combined Dining Table And Dishwasher. The apparatus of Willson provides a dish and utensil compartment within a storage base of the table. A dishwashing unit operates to wash the dishes that are placed on holders in the compartment. The Willson patent does not incorporate a tray component.
A still further combination dishwasher and dining table is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,752 to Boylan, entitled xe2x80x9cDining Table Having Integral Dishwasher.xe2x80x9d The device of the Boylan patent has a washing basin with a vertically shiftable rack assembly for carrying dishes. A shifting mechanism is coupled with the rack assembly for shifting the rack between a position below the table top to a position above the table top. A lid is carried up and down with the rack by the shifting mechanism. While the invention disclosed in the Boylan patent incorporates some of the basic features of the present invention, it provides a comparatively complex apparatus that has an added undesirable possibility of discharging water onto the table top if opened at the wrong time in its cycle. Boylan does not present an eating tray as part of the disclosed invention.
The present invention, in addition to addressing the need for storage space, saved steps, and utility lines across a kitchen floor also provides a more simple mechanism that is not likely to wet the dining table surface than the invention of the known prior patents. The present invention also provides an eating tray and a storage position therefor within the dishwasher unit so that both the surfaces of the eating tray are washed.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that is simple to manufacture and operate.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that allows the electric and water lines; to be hidden from view.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that is unlikely to wet the dining surface if opened during its cleaning cycle.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a dining table with an integral dishwasher that incorporates an eating tray that is moveable between an eating position flush with the table top and a storage position within the dishwasher unit so that both surfaces of the tray are simultaneously washed.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent through the disclosure of the invention to follow.
A dining table is provided with an integral dishwasher permanently installed beneath the dining surface. An access cover removeably resides in the dining surface to allow the user to place dishes into and remove dishes from the dishwasher unit. A dining tray is removeably stored within the dishwasher normally to be washed when dishes are washed. The dining tray is configured to replace the dishwasher access cover during dining times. The electrical, water, and waste utility lines are routed to the dishwasher unit from the floor beneath the dining table.